Isuzu inks vehicle financing deal with Gulf African Bank

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Financial deal has been signed between the Islamic lender Gulf African Bank and the Isuzu East Africa to finance customers’ purchase of a wide range of trucks sold by the Japanese motor vehicle dealer.

Gulf African Bank Managing Director Abdalla Abdulkhalik said under the one-year deal the lender would provide up to 95% of funding while the customer would provide the remaining 5%. The financing arrangement targets both Muslim and non-Muslim clientele as Isuzu seeks to sell 1,000 units.

“The financing is open to everybody, it is not limited to the Muslim faith but we are looking at the entire country to help people acquire the vehicles for their businesses,” said Mr. Abdulkhalik.

Customers will enjoy a two-month grace period before they start making the monthly installments over a five-year duration to service the loans for the models that include Isuzu D-max, N series trucks and F series trucks.

Increase sales

Isuzu Finance and Strategy Director Charles Kariuki said the funds would be released within 72-hours of an application under the deal as the firm seeks to increase sales.

Isuzu was the only major dealer to grow sales in the first quarter ended March in what is attributed to special financing deals with lenders such as Co-op Bank.

The dealer’s unit sales in the review period rose to 1,019 from 891 a year earlier while orders in the overall industry fell 14.5% to 2,741 units.

Most dealers including Toyota Kenya and Simba Corporation recorded significant sales decline. Unit sales at Isuzu rose to 1,019 from 891 while those of Toyota declined to 672 from 812. Simba Corp’s sales also fell to 487 from 514.